Campers&#39; tent



Sept. 19, 1967 A. L. TOMBARI CAMPERS' TENT Filed July 2, 1965 I NVENTOR.ALDO L.TOMBAm Mr W ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,342,192 CAMPERS TENTAldo L. Tombari, Statesville, N.C., assignor to The HettrickManufacturing Company, Statesville, N.C., a corporation of DelawareFiled July 2, 1965, Ser. No. 469,192 1 Claim. (Cl. 1351) ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE This invention is concerned with a hip roof wall tent, suchas is used for camping purposes, having rigid inside support for theridge of the tent and rigid outside support for the eaves on oppositesides of the tent.

Heretofore, ordinary wall tents having vertical side walls are renderedunstable by high winds and driving rain because the side walls receivethe direct force or impact and flutter and flap as a result thereof, thesame simulating the action of a sail which catches the wind, bellies outand oftentime flutters and flaps. As a result the tent structure isquite unsteady and unreliable. Tents of this character have in manyinstances been equipped with outside ridge poles and this, too, is quiteobjectionable for the same reasons above set forth. In such a case theroof line of the tent sags and this not only catches water but also windwhich creates a flapping and fluttering condition and seriously aflfectsthe stability of the tent.

An object of this invention is to produce a flexible fabric side walltent which has greater stability when subjected to high winds, therebygreatly enhancing the use and comfort to the occupants of the tent.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter appearand, for purposes of illustration, but not of limitation, an embodimentof the invention is shown on the accompanying drawing, in which Thefigure is a top perspective view of a flexible fabric side wall tent, aportion being broken away to show the inside mounted ridge pole, andillustrating features of the invention.

The illustrated embodiment of the invention comprises a campers tenthaving a body of flexible fabric material suc for example, as canvas anddesignated generally by the reference numeral 10. As is customary withside wall tents, there are arranged on opposite sides, and in generallyparallel relationship, side walls 11. The upper edges of the side walls11 are joined to the roof wall or panels 12, which in turn are joined attheir upper ends to provide a hip roof.

Joined to the front edge portions of the side walls 11 and roof walls 12is a front wall 13, a portion of which is separated by a zipper fastener14 to provide door flaps. As shown, there is netting 15 forming part ofthe door flaps and a rectangular piece of netting 16 is provided in eachof the side walls to provide windows. Although not shown on the figure,it will be understood that there is a rear wall to the tent joined tothe rear edges of the roof panels 12 and side walls 11.

Arranged within the tent is a ridge pole frame which consists of aninverted U-shaped member 17. The cross part of the U extendssubstantially the entire ridge of the tent and the depending legportions are disposed adjacent the front and rear tent wallsrespectively. The member is preferably of a metallic rod and eachdepending leg portion slidably fits a metallic tube 18 the lower end ofwhich rests on the ground. A suitable latch 19 carried by each tube 18secures the parts in adjusted position. When in proper position theridge pole frame holds the roof line of the tent level and free ofwrinkles and sagging.

The eaves of the tent are supported by a pair of U- shaped metal frames20. Each frame 20 has a U-shaped part and a leg part which is adjustablerelatively to the U-shaped part and has associated therewith a latch 21for securing the respective parts in position of adjustment. It will beapparent, as shown on the drawing, that the U- shaped frames 20 areinclined in opposite directions, the frame on one side inclining in adirection toward the frame on the opposite side. Each of the frames 20holds an eave in the desired manner by means of a series of loops 22 atthe juncture of the side and roof walls, and arranged in equidistantlyspaced relation on each of the eaves and through which the horizontalportion of the frame 20 extends. By inclining the frames 20 in themanner shown it will be manifest that the roof panels 12 are maintainedfree of sagging or wrinkles. It will be recognized that the use of theframes 20 eliminates the necessity for stakes to hold the side walls androof in a taut condition. Usually side wall tents are provided with aseries of ropes which extend from the eaves and the outer ends of theseropes are staked into the ground to hold the roof and side walls in thedesired erected position. It is virtually impossible to mount a sidewall tent with the ropes and stakes as indicated without having saggingat certain areas and such sagging is most objectionable in high windsand driving rains, due to the ballooning and fluttering action whichtakes place, seriously affecting the stability of the tent.

At the bottom edge of each side wall 11 is a series of loops 23 toreceive stakes 24 for retaining the side walls in the desired slopingcondition, as will hereinafter appear.

An important feature of the invention resides in the downward andoutward sloping of the side walls 11, which is found more elfectively toresist high winds and to militate against the sail-like effect of thesewalls in high winds due to flapping, ballooning, fluttering and soforth. The sloping side walls effect greater stability under windconditions and it is found that a downward and outward sloping angle foreach side wall of the order of 15 to 20 is satisfactory for this purose. Manifestly, a gentle slope is desired which does not catch the windand does not act after the manner of a sail.

The positioning of the ridge pole 17 on the inside of the tent, insteadof on the outside, has a distinct advantage of preventing the roof lineto sag which would provide a pocket for water and cause flapping of thetent material in the wind. The inside ridge pole, as shown and describedherein, contributes importantly to the stability of the tent andcooperates with the sloping side Walls 11 in militating againstflapping, ballooning and fluttering of the tent walls in high winds andenables the tent to stand without substantial change in position whensubjected to air turbulence.

It should be noted that the frames 20 which support the tent at theeaves cooperate with the ridge pole in supporting the roof and roofpanels and side wall in a sufiiciently taut manner to eliminate relianceupon. staking and the use of ropes extending out from the eaves normallyemployed for this purpose. The stakes 24 merely hold the lower edges ofthe side walls to the ground and ensure that the desired slant or slopeis imparted to each side wall.

Numerous changes in details of construction, arrange ment and choice ofmaterial may be effected without departing from the spirit of theinvention, especially as defined in the appended claim.

What I claim is:

A side wall tent having a body of flexible fabric material provided witha pair of sloping roof panels forming a hip roof, side walls joined attheir upper edges to the lower edges of the roof panels, and front andrear walls, the improvement which comprises a ridge pole on the insideof the tent body and extending from end to end,

adjustable vertical support means for said ridge pole, a verticallyadjustable U-shaped metallic supporting frame for each eave disposedwholly outside of said body with the horizontal portion thereof arrangedat the juncture of a roof panel and a side Wall, suspending meansproviding a connection between the horizontal portion of each frame andthe respective eave, each frame having ground engaging terminalportions, the terminal portion of one frame inclining at the front andrear of the tent body toward the terminal portion of the other frame,and each 10 side wall sloping downwardly and outwardly from its eave atan angle of the order of from 15 to 20.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,415,343 2/1947 Dunn l35-42,705,966 4/1955 Magary l35--1 REINALDO P. MACHADO, Primary Examiner.

